Blast hits US embassy in Kiev, no casualties reported

An explosion has rocked the US embassy compound in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, with no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Police said Thursday the blast occurred in Shevchenkovsky district in central Kiev early after an attacker threw the device over the embassy’s fence.

“Investigators found that an unknown person threw an unidentified explosive device on the territory of the diplomatic mission,” security sources said, adding that the investigators were working on the scene.

Oksana Blischik, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian police, said that “the explosion on the territory of the US embassy in Kiev is treated as an act of terrorism.”

The US embassy could not be reached for comment but a diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “The embassy will continue to function normally.”

The development comes amid a deadly conflict gripping Ukraine’s east since 2014.

The conflict, which pits Kiev’s army against pro-Russia forces, has so far killed over 10,000 people, according to the latest figures released by the UN.